Pneumatic-action unit



s. BANNER. PNEUMATIC ACTION UNIT.

AFPLlCATON FILED AUG.25. 1920.

l Patented June 27, 1922.

Jill' iisd A M .M m

A TTHNEY UNITED ASTATES STEPHEN BATTNER, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

PNEUMATIC-ACTION UNIT.

Specification of Letters Patent. p

Patented June 27, 1922.

' Applcatonled August 25, 1920. Serial No. 405,804;

T 0 all w 7mm it 'may concern Be it known that l, STEPHEN BA'rTNnn, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New Yorlnhavc invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pneumatic-Action Units, ot which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to' pneumatic actions for automatic and other musical instruments such as organs, pianos, or the like, and has particular reference to the construction of pneumatic action value units for such instruments.

Among the objects of the invention are the following: To simplify the mechanism,

with reference to economy of construction, facility of assemblage, and control; to provide a pair ot units, rights and lefts, with a single vacuum chamber between them and common to the valves of both units; to provide that all the diaphragme ot all the valves'shall be in. the same row and the valves shall all be in a single row, the two rows being arranged so that the valves are preferably below the diaphragme; to generally improve this class oit devices with respect to `reliability otaction and uniformity of construction; to provide each valve unit so that the entire body thereof is a single block or niece oit mrterial7 and to provide an action unit in which the body is of the thinnest possible construction7 occupying a minimum amount oi space lengthwise oi the series7 and in each ot which a diaphragm and its correlated valve lie in approximately the same plane.

With the foregoing and other objects in view the invention consists in the arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed, and while the invention is not restricted to the exact details of construction disclosed or suggested herein still for the purpose of illustrating a practical embodiment thereo reference is had to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same parts in the several views, and in which:

Figure 1 is a detail perspective showing a pair of unit blocks spaced laterally from normal position;

Figure 2 is a vertical view of a plurality ot units, complete, one unit being in elevation and another being in section on the line 2"-2 of Figure 3, and

Figure 3 is a vertical transverse section ot the complete combination.. yReferring now more specifically to the drawings I show improvement as comprising a series of action units allin the same row and arranged in pairs, the unit-s of each pair being rights and leits and indicated at A and Blrespectively. 'Each unit consists ol? a single integral body ot' generally rectangular form, of any suitable material, such as wood or sheet material such as metal, and each formed with its upper portion hollow as by boring7 establishing a vacuum chamber 10, open on the side adjacentkto the other block of the same pair. Each chamber 10 is counterbored at 10a over` which is iiXed'a diaphragm 11, Jfree atv its center to act under the influence ot a puf of air admitted beneath it, as througha port A12 leading thereto from a tracker board, as

well understood.

, From the chamber l0 is 'formed a downward extension 13, and in the center of the lower end of this extension is iformeda hole 14 the wall ot which constitutes a seat 'for a valve 15, normallyA seated against the side thereof4 opposite the extension 13. The body .is counterbored at 16 to accommodate the valve, and the valve chamber so formed is closed on the outside by aplate or cap 17 having a port opening 18 from the atmospliere. Y

The valve support is shown as a lever 19 of the first class, pivoted at 2O on an axis supported horizontally in bearings 2l located in the chamber extension 13, the lower longer end of the lever being bent at an angle and attached to the valve, while the shorter upper end of the lever bears against the diaphragm or a button 22 fixed thereto. From Figure 2 it will be appreciated how thin the unit is and how the diaphragm and valve lie approximately in the same vertical plane and well within the unit block, as distinguished from parallel planes or otherwise as heretofore, occupying much greater space. It will be noted too that the two opposing diaphragms of each pair constitute the walls of the same vacuum chamber and that there is really but one chamber or vacuum space for each two blocks.

23 indicates a -frame or bar to which the unit blocks are or may be attached in any approved manner. To this frame is connected a vacuum chest 2e common to all of 'the vacuum chambers through vacuum ports 25 with which register lateral ports 26 from the vacuum chambers 10. The frame 23 is also bored at 12"L to register with the ports 12.

For each valve chamber 1G is a lateral port 27 communicating with a port 28 leading through the frame 23 to any suitably arranged pneumatic 29. These pneumatics may be arranged in any convenient Inanner, depending upon the size thereof. In this connection I wish to point out that the novel construction of my units adapts them to be made of a single uniform size and character for all sizes of instruments and then for the larger instruments whose actions are correspondingly large, or should be tor the best results7 the pneumatics may be made as large or wide as desired y arranging them one above another.

Normally the valve 15 is held seated against the seat, closing the port 14; as shown in Figure 2, by the vacuum within the chamber 10, the diaphragm 11 being collapsed through any suitably disposed bleed port 30 lea-ding as shown to a bleed chamber 31 common to all the valve units, for the convenience of construction and adjustment. Thus equilibrium of pressures obtains on both sides of the diaphragm. Vhen a puff of air is admitted ybeneath the diaphragm through the ports 12a and 12 the short upper end of the lever is thrown outward and this movement being multiplied through the longer lower end throws the valve in the other direction opening the port 14k and closing the port 18. The normal atmosphere in the pneumatic pertaining to this valve is then dissipated through the ports 28 and 27, chamber 1G, and port 14 to the vacuum chamber 10 and chest 24. The moment the admission of air ceases at the tracker board the diaphragm and valve return to normal position and the pneumatic is again filled with air admitted thereto through the ports 18, 27, and 28.

l claim:

1. A series of valve units arranged in pairs, the units ot each pair being formed with a vacuum chamber common to both units, and a pair of diaphragms in said chamber and having their axes coincident with each other at right angles to said chamber'.

2. A series of valve units each having a diaphragm, there being formed a vacuum chamber between each two units, the diaphragms thereof being directly opposite cach other and constituting the side walls oi the chamber.

3. A series of valve units comprising` pairs ot' unit blocks arranged as rights and letts, the blocks of each pair having a vacuum chamber between them common to both, the chamber having an extension, each block having a valve chamber opposite the end of the extension, and means lying within said extension serving to support and actuatc the valves.

1. A series of pneumatic units, each comprising a diaphragm and a valve, the diaphragms of all units of the series being in the same row and lying in substantially parallel planes and all the valves being in the same row and having a common axis, the valves being in a different row from the diaphragms.

5. A pair of pneumatic valve units comprising two mating blocks arranged face to face, each block having a valve chamber and another chamber constituting one-half of a vacuum chamber, a valve located in each valve chamber, a diaphragm in the bottom of each half vacuum chamber, the diaphragms of the pair of' units constituting the walls of the vacuum chamber, and independent valve actuating means leading from the diaphragms to the respective valves along the same vacuum space.

Signed at New York in the county of Bronx and State of New York this 20th day of August, A. D. 1920.

STEPHEN BATTNER. 

